VIP culture through back door in Chandigarh: ‘Review notification on vanity numbers for babus’

The new policy has been adopted following the pattern in Delhi, sources claim.

The UT administration’s decision to reserve special numbers, usually auctioned by the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) every year fetching lakhs of rupees, for senior officials has not gone down well with city residents and activists.

A city-based activist and a lawyer has shot off letters to UT administrator VP Singh Badnore, demanding review of the notification issued in March. A 0001 series number was recently given for a paltry Rs 5,000 to UT transport secretary KK Jindal who got the number for his wife’s Toyota Innova.

The activists say it was just another way to introduce VIP culture in the city. The new policy has been adopted following the pattern in Delhi, sources claim.

Advocate Ajay Jagga, in the letter, demanded review of the notification by the transport department, as per which a provision has been made for reservation of special numbers for the UT administrator, bureaucrats, judges and senior officials.

On March 22, amendments were made in the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1990, where provision for availing the facility was made for dignitaries/officials and their spouses in Chandigarh.

As per the notification, the facility can be availed of twice by an official during their tenure. Jagga has demanded that the policy should be examined as the reservation of numbers (which he termed as assets) will cause loss to the administration.

RTI activist RK Garg has also shot off a communique to the UT administrator demanding the policy be scrapped. “There should be level-playing field for all with no reservation system,” Garg said.

He added that in Delhi and Haryana, the reserve price for such ‘vanity numbers’ had been fixed at Rs 5 lakh. “If the administration wants to implement such policies, then the reserve price here should also be increased to Rs 5 lakh, ” he added.